Brill Responds

The AFT didn't take to kindly – surprise! – to Steve Brill's BRILLIANT article in last Sunday's NYT Magazine (The Teachers' Unions Last Stand; http://edreform.blogspot.com/2010/05/teachers-unions-last-stand.html), so they attacked it in a ham handed way, including outright lying about a quote from Randi that Brill used.  Here's Eduwonk's Andy Rotherham on the AFT's charge and Brill's scathing rebuttal:

AFT V. Brill Buried Lede!

http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/05/aft-v-brill-buried-lede.html

The AFT has sent out a talking points memo to counter the Brill NYT Mag story.  Most of it is the usual stuff you'd expect but they bury a big lede; down at the bottom of the list of bullet points is this doozy (emphasis mine):

It's also disappointing that Mr. Brill made up a quote in the article and attributes it to Randi [AFT President Randi Weingarten]. He falsely quotes her blaming President Obama for creating an environment to demonize teachers. Brill's fabrication of her quote – which tries to pit her against President Obama – only gives license to those who seek to further polarize the debate around public education reform. Randi had staff with her when Brill did the interview and he didn't have a tape recorder. No where in the notes reflect her saying this about the President, nor would she. President Obama and Randi may have legitimate philosophical differences in their approach to improving our schools, but they share a commitment and passion to achieving the goal.

Wow.  The entire article was fact-checked with sources.   Keep an eye on this one because both sides can't be right and that's a serious charge to bring.  I assume the AFT is referring to this graf in the NYT Mag story (again, emphasis mine):

The teachers' unions have become accustomed in recent years to fighting off reform efforts by Republicans and think-tank do-gooders. They ignore the rhetorical noise, while sticking to the work of negotiating protectionist contracts with the politicians who run school systems and depend on their political support. But what happened last month in Washington could signal a new era in which the unions have to worry that Democrats, like Washington's mayor, Adrian Fenty, not only won't yield in contract negotiations but will also support laws and programs aimed at forcing accountability. That is the threat posed by the Race. "Deliberately or not, President Obama, whom I supported, has shifted the focus from resources and innovation and collaboration to blaming it all on dedicated teachers," Weingarten says.

Here's:

Brill Responds

http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/05/brill-responds.html

Per the post below where the American Federation of Teachers' talking points memo accuses him of fabricating quotes in The New York Times Magazine, Steven Brill writes to say:

If I were going to "fabricate" a quote, why would I pick one that is so unsurprising? After all Ms. Weingarten's own website quotes her on March 13, when President Obama announced plans to include more Race-like contests into traditional federal school aid, as declaring that teachers "should be empowered and supported—not scapegoated. [Emphasis mine.] We are surprised and disappointed that the Obama administration proposed this as a starting point for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act."

In fact, in my initial draft of the article I had that quote in there, too, but took it out because it was semi-redundant with the one Ms. Weingarten now disputes — and which my notes (written on a reporter's pad while standing as we left a restaurant) reflect.

That this quote is not reflected in Mr. Powell's notes is no surprise to me; I didn't see him take any, and he certainly wasn't taking them as we were leaving a restaurant and Ms. Weingarten, after remarking that Race to the Top "doesn't really involve that much money," added her point about President Obama. In fact, as it happens, when I talked repeatedly with her last summer for the article about Rubber Rooms and I mentioned the upcoming "Race," she said almost exactly the same thing, as my notes then also reflect.

I appreciate all of the time that Ms. Weingarten and her colleagues gave me in my preparation for this article, and I regret that they feel compelled to challenge this quote. However, I am gratified that they did not challenge any of the other reporting in the article and look forward to Ms. Weingarten's cooperation and her keen willingness to engage candidly on these issues in the future.

Steve Brill